Homecoming.

Sunday morning we got up, got breakfast, got our stuff together and left the ship. Jama, the Kenyan driver of the green suburban came and picked all the airport people up again. Richard and Mary Alice, Mom and Dad and Daniel and I sat in the airport for several hours before the first flight left. Mom and dad had to wait another couple of hours before their plane left.

On the plane, I got this shot of Mount Rainier as we flew by.

Isn't it gorgeous?!

We flew to Spokane and had to high tail it out to another airline to catch the next flight to SL.

Daniel and I didn't have seat assignments and they were already seating. We were called to the counter where they gave us seat assignments.

In first class.

In different rows.

Bummer.

I hit my head on the overhead compartment as I tried to seat myself next to the window because the guy on the aisle wouldn't get up so I could get in. People all around said, "Ouch." and Daniel yelled from where he was if I was okay.

Well, yes, I'm okay. I've given birth to 2 large babies. A bump on the head is nothin'. But thanks for calling so much attention to it.

As a consolation to myself I got a Diet something before we even took off. I think I really like first class. And then the gal brought more to drink and a basket full of nummies.

I snagged 2 little water bottles because they were just sitting there. When will I ever be in first class again??

We landed and called my parents to bring the kids to us.

Yay!!

I collect magnets wherever we go on vacation.

Remember Kone Kompany for ice cream and fudge in Skagway! I only have a couple bites left.
In Juneau we went to a Russian store and got this book and the dolls. The dolls are my kids' favorite thing we brought back. They will sit and unstack and stack over and over. I love this book and the message it gives of the biggest sister watching over her little sisters.

We got the Sharkbait DVD and made the kids watch it. It's way better in person. If you ever have a chance to see them perform...Do It.

And this is my most favorite. The angel wings with the nativity inside.

I love nativities.

And I love Alaska. Daniel and I want to go again. Next one will be with the kids, too.

Or not.

I highly recommend a cruise for everyone!

I've had fun returning to my cruise with you in tow. I hope you enjoyed it too.

If anything else comes to mind, or if we get other pictures from family, I'll be sure to share.

A Real Workin' Whale and Victoria.

Saturday morning bloomed bright and calm. Daniel and I slept in (because I didn't sleep well) and missed the captain's thingy in the theater about the ship. darn! But 9:30 am was pushing it for us! So we had breakfast, showered, dressed and then went to have lunch. Yep. Just like that. Eat. But we met up with many family members and took over a couple of tables and reeked havoc in the kitchen.

While the rest of the family went to play cards, Daniel and I went to the Garden Cafe to eat (yes, eat again) and enjoy the beauty! It was gorgeous outside. The sea was calm and the sun was shining and it was spectacular!

As we sat eating fries there was a shout of awe! People started running to the side of the ship to see and we could hear more cries of oohs and aahs and clapping! Luckily Daniel was prepared.

We were passing a funny whale!

It was like he was just waiting for us to sail up next to him. Cause the dude just started flipping and spinning and jumping!
It went on for as long as we could see him! It was incredible.

Then we headed in to meet the fam again for the last show of the cruise.

Hi!

This is the stage and the curtain. Cool. I know.

The last show consisted of the singing group Oh What A Night and then Sharkbait.

This is Oh What A Night. They sang Frankie Valley and the 4 Seasons songs. Oh! It's what I grew up on! I enjoyed every song and danced in my seat!

Wait! I think it was after this that everyone went to the card room.

We voted to enjoy the outside beauty again instead. I don't remember what happened to send us out earlier. Except the wonderful weather!

We went to the top and front of the ship to watch as we came into Victoria. Our last port before going back to Seattle.

I had the camera while Daniel went and got our sweatshirts and ice cream. Coconut ice cream. Dreamy.

But we didn't take any pictures. Duh!

So just picture a city on the shore, Canadian war ships to the left and a little smog in the sky. Oh yes, we weren't in Alaska anymore!

We stayed up there until the ship was docked and people started getting off. We decided to pass on the Gardens (I know, I know) and stay aboard.

This is one of the little boats that brought us into port.

While everyone else got off to go sight see, we got mom and dad and got some dinner.

Then we went to our room to pack. Hard to believe it was almost over.

The last morning and coming home next!

And the whole It's A Real Working Whale thing is familial. Many years ago on a trip back east, we went to Kansas City for a family reunion on my dad's side. He had called his aunt to get specific directions to the house as we got closer. He got off the phone and said that she told him where the house is and that there is a real workin' whale in front. Yep, a real workin' whale. So we looked for a,well, a whale! Much to our surprise it was a real workin' well she was referring to. My kids now say A Real Workin' Whale now all the time. Hilarious!

You may have just had to be there.

Ketchikan and the Chocolate Thing.

And here we are on Friday. A beautiful place called Ketchikan. It was another gorgeous yet quaint place in Alaska.

See those clouds rolling in? A storm was a brewin'. We had glorious weather thus far. I guess it was time for some real Alaska spring weather.
He complained that his eyes were closed. I assured him he looked debonair. What do you think?
We went to the Lumberjack show. So much fun. At this point, I kept thinking of what would be fun for the kids to see. What?! We have kids? Oh yeah. Isaac, Sam, Ruthie. That's them. They would have totally dug this!

2 sets of lumberjacks "competed" doing lumberjack stuff. Did you know that lumber jacking is a sport? Well now you do. Some of these guys do it professionally. They were fun to watch!

I was actually cold here and had Daniel get me hot chocolate. The one and only time I was actually cold in Alaska.

As the show ended, it started to drizzle. We headed back to get some shopping done. I found this cute fella and stopped to say hi.

Hi fella.

We got some loot and I called the kids. I talked to 2/3 of them. The other 1/3 was busy riding a scooter. As we got back on the ship it started raining more. Apparently that's normal for Ketchikan.
We got back on the ship and changed and went to dinner and a show.

hi Mary Alice. Where ya goin' Richard?

Here's what was going on outside. Daniel and Richard went out to take pictures then noticed the sign on the door that said not to go out. High winds and large waves. So Mary Alice and I told them to get back inside.

The waves were 20-30 feet. I know I claimed 40 feet. But, shoot, you would have believed they were 60 foot waves had you lived through it!

We rocked and rolled all night! All night!

It was horrible.

In fact, that's what I've been feeling these last couple of days.

We saw the Jean Ann Ryan company perform again. They have these amazing acrobats that hang from fabric and hoops and stuff and do amazing things. We couldn't take pictures. Darn.

This is all the Jean Ann Ryan company in back, the acrobats in red at the top. The man to your right and down from them is Tony. Holy. Amazing. Voice. Totally! He sang the night before in one of the lounges and Daniel and I danced to Unchained Melody. Oh.

All those other people on stage are crew members. We cheered them on for all their service and stuff.

Later that night was the Chocolate thing. That's what Daniel called it. We went.

They had tons of chocolate stuff on display.

We couldn't touch it. But not to worry.

There was plenty we could touch.

And eat.

There was even an ice sculpture.

But the ship was rockin' and rollin' so drastically that we cut it short and went back to our room.

This is the only night I didn't sleep.

And I started to miss my kids!

See those waves?!

All. Night. Long.

And I'd still go back and do it again.

But that's not the end.

This is only Friday.

One more day to cruise!

Plucked Chicken.

That's what I feel like. I've been feeling the aftershocks of sea legs all week. Last night and today have been like being on the high seas in the wake of a huge storm. I can't stand up. So I thought I'd share this plucked chicken I made out of a towel on the cruise. I don't know when else I'd share this new found talent with you. Until now.

Enjoy the plucked chicken.

I'm going back to bed.

Thursday Exploration and Napping.

I'm sitting at my counter eating cold cereal. It's just so simple, cold cereal. It's just cereal and milk in a bowl with a spoon. It doesn't sit in my gut for hours. Ah. Cold cereal. I missed you last week.

I completely forgot to go over the rest of Thursday after Glacier Bay. Duh!

I went to take a nap. I took a shower after that!

Daniel stayed on deck and ate and ate and took pictures.

I think he ate, too.

I think that's a whale. But it's too far away. As we sailed out of the Bay, there were whales all over.

There were little tourist boats, too.
We cruised NCL. Norwegian. They do freestyle cruising. Nice, but, my first cruise wasn't freestyle and I remember lots of good points about non freestyle.
If you cruise, do what feels right.

A little pick up in the water. In the Bay, the water was like glass. Smooth and glassy.

You could tell we were out by the water.

Hey look! It's a whale!

Hi whale!

Isn't it just gorgeous?!

I missed it all while I slept. We were in an inside cabin...cheaper...more moolah for excursions!

So when you turned off the lights it was pitch black.

We slept soundly at night and into the morning because there was no light.

My nap went on for almost 2 hours because there was no light!

The very back of the ship.

The front of the ship.

Daniel and I sat here on our way into Victoria on Saturday, but I don't think we have any pictures. So pretend you see a big city and Canadian warships out there and you'll see Victoria how we saw it.

But this is still Thursday.

I thought I'd lost Daniel because I got a knock on the door with dinner instructions from Clark and no one had seen Daniel for quite a while.

Well, he was exploring.

Here's the cockpit. Um, I don't know what you call this. But if Daniel reads this and comments, he will tell you what it's called. It's where they drive the ship.

There were signs everywhere that said "Don't tap on the glass".

I think he's lighting the engine.

C'mon, let's go!

Mmmm. Cold cereal. I love you.

Dinner on Thursday was in Le Bistro. It is a pay for restaurant and we had a $40 dinner credit per couple. So this was it.

We waited for everyone and then took a group picture.

Hi.

The group picture.

Nice looking group.

Can you tell Daniel's siblings? Remember, look at teeth and chins.

4 sisters and 3 brothers (including Daniel) 1 sister isn't here. Dinner was amazing. I know I haven't talked about food at all so far. But this I must discuss.

For appetizer I had mushroom soup. Oh. My. Yummy.

They came first with a bowl with mushrooms and some sauce. He said he'd be right back with the soup. We were confused!

Then the soup came. He poured it on the mushrooms. I ate some. I licked my bowl. Well, not really. It was a classy place. So I scraped the bowl with my spoon until I felt I'd gotten my fill.

I had Coc Au Vin for dinner. Good, but dry.

Then we all got to sing to Mary Alice. It was her birthday! Yay!

Then dessert came. Oh. My. Yummy!

Daniel and I got chocolate fondue for two. Lalalalalalala!

I also got Creme Brulee. Awesome. I don't remember what else happened that night.

Except the $3 million painting of a naked lady in the restaurant.

Here is a teaser for the next post....

40 foot waves!